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 Documentary - Rosenthal, Chap 3: Getting to Work, Chapter 4: Writing the Proposal, Chapter 17: Making Your First Films


Chapter 3 leads us into a set process of identifying the films purpose and then discovering an audience. I believe it is most helpful to start by giving your film a purpose. Without purpose, your audience is often unknown. I've found this to be extremely frustrating in filmmaking. Everything that a filmmaker will do in order to finish a project is to share an experience, story, event, or even highlight an individual. Moving forward with a project that does not excite you as the storyteller is a recipe for disaster. 

Chapter 4, writing the proposal – in his words a device to sell a film. Unless you come from money or have a rich friend willing to support your art, a proposal is necessary for many reasons. Similar to the reading in chapter 3, a proposal helps you identify the purpose of your film. For my current project, I knew I wanted to make something about my families connection to Amway Global but wasn't sure how. Through writing the proposal, this has forced me to do deeper research into the given topic and given me a tighter focus in on what I would like to cover. This chapter only affirmed what I knew of writing proposals but brought insight into a few other things as well.

Chapter 17, Making your first film. This chapter was the least helpful in my mind, the current film I will be making is not my first film. But, I was able to (yet again) affirm my process in knowing that others work in the same ways. Film is like the old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," in my mind. I have attempted to push the envelope in pre-production in the past: no shot list while attempting to rely on my gut in the moment, little to no budget with the expectation of finding crew for free (which almost always comes with complications), and even attempting to invent better processes on set such as cutting corners on safety with lighting, camera, and grip equipment... these things are tried and true to film because, surprise, surprise, they work. Overall I do discover new things on every project, the learning process is neverending. I am sure there is a lot to be learned during this course with my current project. 

Comments

  1. Emily PFebruary 5, 2023 at 9:13 PM

    Hey Dusty! I agree with your take on chapter 17. It was approaching things from a very new perspective for many filmmakers, but for those of us who have made films in the past, it is important to look at each new film we make with the same importance and excitement as the first one. The only difference now is that we have more skills and tools to make even better films.

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  2. Kim's MFA BlogFebruary 6, 2023 at 4:27 PM

    Dusty, I agree that it's important to be excited about the story you want to tell, whether it's a narrative or doc. However, I've found that I usually ride a rollercoaster of emotions as I'm working on the storytelling process, from conception, to writing, to production, to editing. There are days I love it, days I loathe it, and days I could care less about it. I know that pattern, so I stick with it until I love it again!

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  3. Ashley HatcherFebruary 7, 2023 at 10:38 AM

    Hey Dusty! Although I did not read these chapters (I'm doing a narrative), I find all of your points very valid. Especially the ones in reference to Chapter 17.There is always something new to be learned from each project and that in and of itself is exciting!

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